Ayia Napa (Cyprus) > Reviews (31)

Over the past few years i have been to holiday destinations with my friends and all i can say is they have been outstanding. We've been to the Gran Canaries, Turkey and just last year, the almighty Ayia Napa! Sometimes its not where you go but who you're with on holiday that makes all the difference.

As you probably know the Gran Canaries and Turkey (Marmaris) aren't known as the best places around for nightlife and partying though that's not to say they aren't good as Turkey is always a hit all year round and maybe soon it could be competing for the party capital status (long while in the waiting of course!) but there are some great bar/clubs in marmaris such as the 'seaside bar' and 'salt 'n' pepa'.

After those two holidays we decided we wanted to experience a new challenge, a place more popular and more reviewed towards 18-30's nightlife more than a family destination. Our searching on the internet and word of mouth from people directed us to Ayia Napa, which we had a lot of great feedback on from forums and club sites in the destination etc.

We went to the travel agents and booked our flights and apartments, self catering for 2 weeks of sun, sea, and pure partying to Tsokkos Village apartments, Ayia Napa for £480 which i thought was really reasonable for June the 25th onwards, with four lads sharing a 2 bedroom apartment.

When we arrived in Ayia Napa the heat was unreal, really hot and sunny as you'd expect in the summer of course, basically we weren't disappointed ha ha. We had to get a dreaded one and a half hour bus in the soaring heat with the worst air conditioning ever to our destination from the airport after getting all of our baggage quite quickly, that's a first.

We finally arrived about 5pm at our apartments and we were all buzzing while at the same time not stopping to think about how drained we were as well, amazing what being on a holiday can do to you right? As we booked in we then assisted ourselves to our block and room on the third floor up and by this stage I'm surprised i didn't slip on my friends sweat that was dripping onto the marble staircase by now. (ouch!). The apartment village consisted of about five or six blocks, three of which surround the main swimming pool and lounge area unfortunately ours was behind that but sure we weren't here to be picky, and more for the partying.

All of the lads including I, decided to get showered and changed quickly and headed down to the apartment bar for a much needed drink. We were greeted nicely by the staff and had already made some friends by the looks of it ha ha.

The place looked better than we expected for a 3* apartment, though it was recommended by the travel agent at the time so we trusted her. We stayed at the bar for a bit and got to know a large group of people from Scotland who also arrived that day and were a great laugh, and we all decided to go out together that night.

So this was it, we were now about to experience the ever growing and popular nightlife of Ayia Napa, one word, Fantastic!!.

Not only was the Square as they called it (all the main clubs being situated around that form) jam packed but the music was so loud there was people dancing about outside the pubs and clubs, brilliant!

~Nightlife~

There is a numerous amount of pubs and clubs surrounding the 'Square' so ill give you a list of some of the main ones of interest to visit.

~Pubs/Fun bars/Free to public~

~ Bedrock Inn - Great pub for Karaoke as we learned on a pub crawl ha!

~ Hollywood Boulevard

~ Monkey Business

~ Robins Den

~ Titanic Pub

~ Lineker's Bar

Those would be the main pubs that wee visited on a regular night out on the booze ha ha, they have a lot to offer with great entertainment throughout the night, most of which not closing till 6 or 6.30am ( Yes we were very drunk by that stage!)

~ Clubs/ Paid entry ~

There are some good clubs surrounding the fun pubs as well with top class DJ's playing at times, we met Lisa Lashes in the Bedrock Inn after a session in one of the main Clubs though we only went to them about once each as they were dear enough to get in. I think it was around 15 to 30 euro on certain nights to get into the clubs. Here's some of the popular one's of interest.

~ Carwash (and yes it is all one word) ha ha

~ Starsky & Hutch

~ Castle Club

~ Black & White

Preferably i liked Starsky & Hutch the best with great music all night long. Like i say the clubs are quite expensive but sure what's a good holiday that you don't need more money sent over or you come home not skint ha ha.

A good point to mention is that like most nightlife resorts you get a free shot upon entry in a good lot of the clubs and pubs with all sorts of promotions on!

*Food*

I found that the food in the restaurants was very nice with a calm relaxed feeling if you go to the sea side selection, or you could visit one of the fun pubs from the night before that serve food during the day which is average! as drink is more they're specialty. The price for your typical steak meal would usually range from 16 to 20 euro because that's all i lived on, I love my steaks. If you don't fancy going for a full blown meal with a costly side to it you also have a selection of fast food restaurants you would get back home such as McDonald's, and Burger King.

*Activities/Sports*

For the mornings in which you can face up to your hangovers, there is a host of things you can do to keep you occupied, from Go Carting (Extremely fast were we went) and advisable to wear a t-shirt, when your back touches the plastic seat on the go kart, scorching comes to mind. There is the Slingshot ride in which two people get into a caged ball and are shot up into the air while spinning around (not my cup of tea!) as i got called a wuss by my friends ha. Also very dear i think it was like 20 or 25 euro for two goes (and our survey says? eh uhh..)

If they don't take your fancy, then how about the real fun stuff, yes that's right the 'Water Sports' there's a variety of different fun filled water sports from Banana boating to jet skiing and paragliding, a pretty large list in fact ranging from all sorts of prices.

If you have had enough action for the day then you can always relax on the famous Nissi beach or a host of other beaches around the resort if preferred.

One Activity highly recommended, making a day of would be visiting the water park in Ayia Napa, 'WaterWorld' its immense. There's a lot of water slides, some rather scary but that's the fun of it, including the ZEUS ZENITH slide. The Zeus Zenith slide is unbelievably scary as you thunder down 75 meters of an almost vertical drop!! Apart from the slides there's a restaurant to grab a bite to eat and lockers are provided. A day to remember!

*General comment*

All in all i can clearly say that Ayia Napa is the best holiday that I've ever been on with plenty to do and suit everyone, though i will mention that its not recommended for family's as its target is aimed more at couple's and groups. Every crevice and corner has something different and new with lots of souvenir shops about, you'll not be stuck for those family gifts providing you have any cash left ha ha.